Rock Art in the West. Visible Environments. Theory and Philosophy of the Image.

Dislocated from one another, we are now flooded,resting in place.We suffocate in the backwater of decadenceand fractious contempt.Purity of the ancient is the language without tongues.The river elegantly marks swirls on its surface,a spiral that tells of a placethat remains undisturbed. Elizabeth Woody, 1994 [1]…Near the lower end there are several dangerous rocks in the rapid, and at the foot large masses of rock divide it into different parts the main channel empties into a capacious, deep basin of rectangular shape, called Big Eddy. Captain. Chas. F. Powell, Corps of Engineers, 1882 [2]…The investigation of the petroglyphs (in spring 1956) was made by Samuel C. Sargent, a Geologist with the Corps of Engineers, on The Dalles Dam project. Mr. Sargent called attention to petroglyphs existing on islands in Fivemile Rapids, which can be easily removed and are in an excellent state of preservation., these petroglyphs are located in areas 6 and 7. I would urge that these petroglyphs be salvaged, since they represent unique forms for this area. David L. Cole, University of Oregon, 1956 [3]…In attempting to raise the petroglyph from Area 7 (by the Corps of Engineer’s Derrick Barge “Cascade” after the formation of The Dalles Dam Pool), the connection to the lift line parted and the petroglyph ad lift line were lost. In the near future, an attempt will be made to recover the petroglyph with the help of a diver. Joseph F. Garback, Lt Colonel, Corps of Engineers, 1957 [4]…Area 7 was on a small island at the lower end of Fivemile Rapids. One rock was to be removed from this island. This rock was approximately seven feet high, eight feet wide and eight feet deep, weighing approximately seventeen tons. It was lying loose on a level area. Jacks were used to lift the rock enough to slip the cables under … the petroglyph was … bound with a cable which was attached to a float. In the attempt to lift this petroglyph a cable clamp slipped and it fell back into the water. The last report received was that the Corps of Engineers planned to send a diver down after it. David L. Cole, University of Oregon, 1958 [5]… It is unfortunate that the petroglyph from Area #7 was lost in the efforts to raise it from the bottom of the pool. Naturally, $1,000 to attempt to recover this petroglyph is out of line with the value of the petroglyph, and we feel that this petroglyph will have to be considered as lost. Herbert Maier, National Park Service, 1958 [6]…Nature is a temple where living pillarsSometimes let out confused lyricsMan passes through, across forests of symbolsEach one observing him with a familiar gaze

Like long echoes, from afar confoundingIn a dark and profound unityVast like night and like clarityFragrance, color, and sound all resounding Charles Baudelaire, 1857 [7]

NOTES[1] From Elizabeth Woody’s poem “Waterways Endeavor to Translate Silence from Currents.” In Luminaries of the Humble. University of Arizona Press. 1994. Elizabeth Woody is an American Navajo-Warm Springs-Wasco-Yakama artist, author, and educator. In 2016 she was named Poet Laureate of Oregon.[2] From the May 30. 1882, report “The Survey of the Columbia River at The Dalles in Oregon,” by Captain. Chas. F. Powell, Corps of Engineers, US Engineers Office, Portland Oregon. Note: The survey, as part of an a project for the improvement of navigation, responded to an 1879 mandate by the U.S. Congress.[3] From the July 18, 1956, report “Further Recommendation for the Removal of Petroglyphs in The Dalles Dam Reservoir Area.” by David L. Cole, University of Oregon.[4] From a July 26, 1957, letter to the NPS from Joseph F. Garback, Lt Colonel. Corps of Engineers, Deputy District Engineer.[5] From the September 10, 1958, “A Report on the Removal of Petroglyphs in The Dalles Dam Reservoir Area,” by David L. Cole, University of Oregon.[6] From an October 3, 1958, letter by Herbert Maier, Assistant Regional Director, National Park Service (in response to a September 25, 1958, letter from W. L. Winegar, Colonel, Corps of engineers, District engineer.)[7] Charles Baudelaire from the poem Correspondences in Les Fleurs du mal, 1857. Translated by Ariana Reines for Delirium: The Art of the Symbolist Book, an exhibition through May 14, 2017 at the Morgan Library and Museum, New York City. (Poem in Harper’s Magazine April 2017 p.22)

END Notes- Hill and Hill (1974, p.257) include a photo of a 1956 casting of the petroglyph made by James Hansen for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).- McClure (1978, p.73-74) notes: “The Round Island Petroglyph site, a small island with a single petroglyph, about 3/4 mi above Big Eddy, a boulder atop.” In 1984 he designates the site 45KL220.- Loring and Loring (1982, Part 1) include a drawing: Site 9. Big Eddy, Klickitat County, WA, Fig 14 g. (Also p.11 of the 1996 2nd Edition)